Don Carlos
(Original Paris Version)
2015 Sarasota Opera Production
March 7, 12, 15m, 18, 21m, 24
Opera In Five Acts, Sung In French
Words by Joseph Méry And Camille Du Locle
Based On The Play Don Carlos, Infant Von Spanien
By Friedrich Schiller
Conductor
Victor DeRenzi
Stage Director
Stephanie Sundine
Scenic Designer
David P. Gordon
Costume Coordinator
Howard Tsvi Kaplan
Lighting Designer
Ken Yunker
Hair And Make-Up Designer
Dawn Rivard
Chorus Master
Roger L. Bingaman
Assistant Conductors
John F. Spencer IV, Stefano Sarzani,
Michael Spassov, Christopher Ray
Surtitle Supplier
Words For Music
Surtitle Translator
Victor DeRenzi
Production Created By Sarasota Opera
Cast
Philippe II, King of Spain
Kevin Short
Don Carlos, Infante of Spain
Jonathan Burton
Rodrigue, Marquis de Posa
Marco Nisticò
The Grand Inquisitor
Young Bok Kim
Élisabeth de Valois
Michelle Johnson
The Princess Eboli
Mary Phillips
Thibault, Élisabeth de Valois' page
Riley Svatos*
The Countess of Aremberg
Brittany Hebel*
The Count of Lerme
Jon Jurgens*
A royal herald
Peter Drackley*
A celestial voice
Jennifer Townshend*
A monk
Tyler Putnam*
Flemish deputies
Jeremiah Johnson*, Eric Lindsey*, Tyler Putnam*,
Joseph Ryan*,Kenneth Stavert*, Constandinos Tsourakis*
* Studio Artist
Sarasota Opera Orchestra
Chorus: Sarasota Opera Apprentice And Studio Artists
Reviews
“What’s the recipe for grand opera? Take a soupcon of historic fact and mix well with large dollops of passion and heaping portions of great music. Then add fine singers, instrumentalists, appropriate costumes, scenery, a stage director with a vision and a conductor with the grit of a field marshal and, voila: Don Carlos, in just four hours and 30 minutes, two intermissions and five acts of glory.”
—June LeBell, The Observer
"No matter which way you look at it, the Sarasota Opera’s production of the original 1867 full-length Paris version of Verdi’s grand “Don Carlos” is an astonishing achievement."
"Most reviews start with the lead vocalists, but in this case I must honor the entire chorus and the magnificent orchestra under the direction of Victor DeRenzi. In all cases, purely sublime, providing a solid foundation on which soloists could make their mark."
- Gayle Williams, Herald-Tribune
"Victor DeRenzi, however, demonstrated his Verdian mastery once again in every bar. Sarasota Opera’s Artistic Director consistently made manifest the remarkable originality and variety of this score, supported the singers alertly in the individual arias, and putting across the music’s power in ensemble scenes. With superb playing from the orchestra, DeRenzi brought stirring pomp and majesty to the auto-da-fe scene, and the extended prelude for horns that opens Act 2 sounded almost Wagnerian. The robust choral singing under the direction of Roger L. Bingaman was on the same high level."
- Lawrence A. Johnsons, The Classical Review
"More is always better when it comes to Verdi at Sarasota Opera. Never has that been as true as with Don Carlos, the highlight of the winter season and a landmark in the company’s quest to perform every note the composer wrote. When Sarasota’s twenty-eight-year Verdi Cycle concludes in 2016 with Aida and The Battle of Legnano, it will have encompassed his twenty-seven operas, plus a half dozen major revisions. As the grandest of Verdi’s French operas, Don Carlos is a monumental undertaking in whatever version is done — there are five basic versions — and the Sarasota production was the biggest of all. Under the baton of artistic director Victor DeRenzi, the company performed the five-act score Verdi wrote for the 1867 premiere in Paris, including sections he cut before opening night so that operagoers could catch the last train to the suburbs."
- John Fleming, Opera News
(Photos: Rod Millington / Sarasota Opera)